The images released by NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) show that the region of central Africa got more fires than that in Amazon.

Addressing the ‘Annual Conference on Capacity Building of SDRFs, Civil Defence, Home Guard and Fire Services’, organised by the NDRF in New Delhi, Shah said, “Frequent forest fires breaking out in hilly regions is a growing threat. It needs to be responded to effectively.”

The findings are crucial for India’s own commitment to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of Co2-equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.

Forest fires are common in Greece during the hot, dry summers. The worst by far occurred in 2007, when large swaths of forest and farmland burned, mainly in the Peloponnese in southern Greece, killing more than 60 people.

The state forest department, which records forest fire instances between February 15 and June 15 each year, noted a rise in the forest fire instances since Monday when the area under forest fire crossed 1,000 hectares

Two IAF choppers have been sent to Nainital and Pauri districts, among the worst hit, to spray water over the burning jungles, Raj Bhawan officials here said.

Indonesia which is blamed every year has sent hundreds of military personnel to try to put them out. It has declared a state of emergency in Riau province, where the haze has been building for several weeks and pollution levels reached hazardous levels.